The night ends with a hopeful development. Tasha started eating small amounts of dry cat food late this afternoon and –so far, so good– has kept it down! At this point I'll take any positive development as good news. I've also seen her at the water bowl. So at bed time (it's 11:15 PM EDT despite what the time stamp says) I can go to sleep with happier thoughts on my mind. Hoping tomorrow brings a cat gaining strength and getting healthier!
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Tasha spent Wednesday night and most of the day Thursday at our vet's animal hospital. They wanted to continue treatment with medication, etc., and hydration, do more blood tests, another x-ray, and observe her. After this round of treatment our vet still doesn't know for sure what's going on though he thinks it may be either inflammatory bowel disease or (worst case) an intestinal cancer (lymphoma). We have a cat who looks and acts well except for this nasty symptom of throwing up just about anything she eats. Now she's been through about 48 hours of stress and it shows. We fear the high stress could activate her FIV and cause even worse things to happen. It's so frustrating! We're doing everything we can for this kitty and still we don't even know for sure what is going on! Tasha came home last night (Thursday) and spent a lot of time exploring the entire house. She still seems a little ill-at-ease today but is becoming more relaxed. I'm to dose her twice daily with oral cortisone and antibiotic medications. My plan right now is to offer her very small bits of food, which she seems to tolerate, during the day in hopes that we can get her system running normally again. I'm to call the vet at noon and speak with him about Tasha's condition and what's next.
Update: We'll continue medication and attempts to feed Tasha over the weekend. Next step in trying to solve this mystery, if symptoms continue, is to get an image using barium orally to see if it discloses a kink or invisible blockage of some sort that is causing this trouble. We'll see how things look Monday.
Because her problem continued this morning, our local veterinary office is keeping Tasha for the afternoon for continued injected medication, hydration, and further examination. Even the vet, Dr. M., remarked that Tash looked like a fine healthy cat. The fact that she vomits about once an hour hasn't –so far– changed her appearance. This vet wasn't sure she agreed with the emergency practitioner … the problem may not be an inflamed bowel. She and I agree that the esophagus is worth a look for the trigger of all this trouble. So we'll see what they find. The office is supposed to call at 5:00 to discuss findings and where our poor cat will spend the night.
Update: The vet called at 4:30 reporting that, as before, nothing could be found that certainly is causing Tasha's difficulties. A new x-ray indicated a possibly enlarged spleen and thickened intestine but the film was sent out for reading by a radiologist. No indication of blockage in the esophagus, stomach, or intestines. Tasha will spend the night at the local vet's for continued medication and observation to be reevaluated in the morning.
This is one of those mystery cases. We have, in Tasha, a cat that is apparently sick but whose problem doesn't show up in $500 worth of blood tests, x-rays, and physical exams. Tasha's puke sessions continued after our bed time so, worried at 2:30 AM, we headed out the door and through the night to the Akron Veterinary Emergency Center. Great staff and wonderful to have such a facility available but it's just one of those problems. It may be gastroenteritis (inflammation of the intestines). As I write this Tasha is resting comfortably on my lap. From her viewpoint the only problem right now is that I'm not to give her food or water until 3:00 or 4:00 this afternoon. The vet said this would give her a chance to settle her insides from all that vomiting. Then we're to reintroduce water and, if that stays down, she can have some "bland" food. Tasha may feel fine now but I'm wasted… no more than about an hour of light sleep. I'm thinking about staying home from work today but I'm too groggy to make a decision. Uggghh!
Geeze! What a start to my blog here at Vox! I didn't expect it to be a cat journal!
Tasha. She's our eight-year-old (mostly) Russian blue cat. She's overweight and a real sweetie, very energetic. Beginning some time this afternoon, though, and ever since she has been vomiting frequently. Can't keep water or food down. It's like she's trying to clear something from her stomach or throat. Symptoms, so far, don't warrant a quick trip to the veterinary emergency clinic, but it's very worrisome. We'll see how she is tomorrow morning and go from there. Our home life right now seems dominated by two small animals and I guess it is. We value their welfare and quality of life and care deeply for them so when they have trouble we aren't inclined to simply "put them out of our misery." Here's hoping Tasha is feeling better by morning.
Diabetes. It's a fairly common disease among aging domestic pets. In an old cat it's pretty hard to tell when energy is lacking. They sleep so much anyway. Recently, though, this 19-year-old kitty has been drinking and peeing buckets so we knew something was wrong. The vet did some blood tests last week that showed Missy's one factor that was really out of whack was her blood sugar level — over 450 — was way over a normal of around 200. He put her on insulin right away and she was showing improvement within 24 hours. I've had to learn how to give her daily injections and I've never handled a syringe before. Sounds cruel but she doesn't even flinch as the short, sharp needle delivers the drug. In fact, I've found the best time to do this single-handedly is while she is having her breakfast. So while she's busy eating, I pinch a bit of loose skin near the shoulders or upper back, stick her with the syringe, and we're set for the day. Like I said, she doesn't seem to notice it at all! I'm getting better at it but still fear I won't get the insulin injected properly. Confidence and skill will come in time. Her condition continues to improve and she's getting better hydration with less drinking, better skin condition (it was very flaky with much loss of fur), brighter eye (she has only one), and greater alertness. She has even returned to her old habit of visiting us at the dinner table to see if there's anything she'd like. No, we don't feed table scraps, but she feels the need to check on things anyway. We go back to the vet next week for another blood sugar test. Today it was a blood glucose level of 358 and we're shooting for 200.
PhotonStopper 